Less than a week after Rob Lowe became an unexpected NFL insider, Peyton Manning was still laughing.

“I never thought Sodapop Curtis would announce my retirement,” Manning told the Indianapolis Star on Monday, referring to Lowe’s character in the 1983 movie The Outsiders. Lowe, currently seen on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, took to Twitter last Wednesday saying he was “hearing” from people in the know that the Colts quarterback, who missed this season because of neck surgery, was close to retirement.

In Manning’s first interview since the rumour spread, the Super Bowl XLI MVP denied he was on the verge of ending his 15-year career.

“I always thought I would be the one to announce it. I’m a huge fan of the movie, but that caught me way off guard. I can’t explain it. I know he [Lowe] is a friend of Jim’s [Irsay], and Jim sounded surprised.” (Irsay sounded more perturbed than surprised.)

Manning was predominantly introspective when talking about the sudden management changes within the Colts organization, and how it might eventually affect him. He said the Colts practice facility was not a “very good place for healing” at the moment, with a complete front office and coaching staff makeover after the team finished 2-14 and secured the first overall pick in the 2012 draft.

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Vice chairman Bill Polian, Polian’s son and general manager, Chris, and head coach Jim Caldwell along with his staff, were all fired earlier this month. Even strength and conditioning coach Jon Torine, who was helping Manning recover from his off-season neck surgery, was released.

“One of the things about football is, it’s a relationship business. Sometimes guys get fired, it goes across the ticker, ‘Jim Caldwell got fired’ and that’s that. But when it’s every day in a relationship business … with Bill [Polian], with Marvin [Harrison], Edge [Edgerrin James], guys who retire, get cut, traded or fired, it’s just really hard. I don’t think I have an emotion for it,” the 11-time Pro Bowler told the newspaper.

“The new [management] team doesn’t have a relationship with these guys like I do, and I know a lot of players feel that way about them [the departing coaches], too.”

Manning has briefly met with new Colts GM Ryan Grigson, but knows discussions about his future will be with Irsay.

“One thing he [Grigson] kind of, sort of told me, without really wanting to tell me, was that Irsay will be the guy I’m going to sit down and talk with,” said Manning, who was in San Francisco on the weekend to watch brother Eli and his New York Giants clinch the NFC Championship and a place in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.

“That’s going to happen at some point, but we haven’t had that conversation yet because we really don’t need to have that conversation yet.”

And these discussions will be fraught. Irsay has tweeted several times in the past few months the importance of this upcoming off-season and solidifying the future of his franchise; the Colts are still searching for a new head coach, and the team is likely to select Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck first overall. With the Super Bowl two weeks away, and the retirement rumour making the rounds, the spotlight is back on Manning and an inevitable decision.

“I don’t want to get into some kind of fan campaign with the owner, but I think it’s well documented that I want to play in the same place my whole career,” Manning said. “It’s been a privilege to play here. I love the fans, the city, the transformation of the fans, how our place has become the toughest stadium to play in, the fact our fans wear more jerseys to games than anybody else. It’s been fun to be a part of that.”

Teams reportedly interested in Manning include the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Washington Redskins. Sources with the Dolphins say Miami will go after Manning if he is on the market and cleared medically, and Jets owner Woody Johnson would not confirm nor deny the Jets’ interest in Manning last week. Manning is expected to make a US$28-million if he is still on the Colts roster in early March.

“I understand tough decisions have to be made,” Manning said. “There’s personal and there’s business and that’s where we’ve got to separate the two. I’ve seen other guys leave places and it was personal. I’ve invested too much into this city for that to happen. We live here, we’ve given lots of time and money to the community and our church, and that’s never going to change. Nothing changes that.

“Whatever happens, happens. I can’t give you a prediction because Jim [Irsay] and I will sit down at some point and he’ll get a feel for where I am and I’ll get a sense of what direction he wants to go. Right now, I have no idea.”